In an honest Instagram post sharing the sad news, Lauren wrote that they had grown into different people since they met in high school and asked for compassion. Now, Lauren is returning to give a deeper look into what happened in an appearance on the All Our Favorite People podcast. Along with her honesty about she and Alex’s relationship, she revisited struggles that came when she was just a teenager.

A string of bad events started with financial problems that came after a high from her finish as runner-up on American Idol. Things came crashing down quickly, with the expense of having to get vocal chord surgery made a much bigger burden when she realized someone from her team had stolen “a disgusting amount” of money from her.

While having to literally eat Cracker Barrel for every meal, Lauren returned to work on new music. “I want to act like the first album never happened” she revealed of moving forward and being truer to herself on 2017 release Road Less Traveled. After centering herself and saving enough to buy a house, Lauren was more grounded and incredibly grateful for life despite continuing struggles.

“Last year was one of the hardest years of my life- maybe the hardest year. But… I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she opened up about both the loss of her stepfather to cancer and her broken engagement. After going through a residential therapy program, Lauren was able to unpack all of her past traumas while dealing with her recent split from Alex, who she describes as “all I knew.”

“He was such an important person in my life, but that just doesn’t make him the person that I’m supposed to be with forever,” she said. Their split was announced just one week after she finished the Onsite Workshops therapy program.

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